Wings coach Babcock inspires, motivates with speech to McGill students

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who will be behind the bench for Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics, was in Montreal on Nov. 25 to accept an honorary doctorate of law at McGill University’s fall convocation ceremonies.

Babcock attended McGill from 1983-87, was captain of the Redmen hockey team and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education before doing some postgraduate work in sports psychology.

In his speech to the McGill students, Babcock said: “As an education student at McGill I learned early you stand up to be seen, you speak out to be heard and you keep it short to be appreciated, so you can all relax.”

His speech lasted just under seven minutes, but was very powerful and motivational.

The three main subjects of his speech were the foundation that McGill is, maximizing your potential and choosing your attitude.

Below is the video of Babcock’s speech to McGill students, followed by a column I wrote on the coach and whether the Canadiens’ P.K. Subban will be on Team Canada at the Sochi Olympics:

(Photo courtesy of McGill University)

Babcock an impressive figure

PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE ON NOV. 30, 2013

STU COWANGAZETTE SPORTS EDITOR

Mike Babcock has a message for Canadiens fans who are already in a frenzy about whether P.K. Subban will make Team Canada for the Olympics.

“It has nothing to do with the individual,” said Babcock, the Detroit Red Wings head coach who will be behind the bench for Canada at the Sochi Games. “The great thing about this (Team Canada) program is that it has nothing to do with Mike Babcock or Steve Yzerman or P. K. Subban … it has to do with our country and we’re going to pick the best roster to give our country the best chance to win. To me, it’s all about the rallying for Canada, it’s about Canada, it’s not about any individual.”

That doesn’t mean Subban won’t be on Team Canada. It doesn’t mean he will be, either.

“We really felt we had goldmedal preparation this summer, now we’re in the selection process and we need a gold-medal selection process if we’re going to have any chance in the end,” Babcock said. “So that’s the process we’re in right now.”

Babcock knows what it takes to win at the Olympics since he was behind the bench at the Vancouver Games when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal. As always with Team Canada, it’s gold or bust – and Babcock would seem to have more to lose than gain at his second Olympics.

“I don’t look at it like that,” said Babcock, who won a Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008. “I just do the best I can. For me, the measure of me as a man has nothing to do with wins and losses or gold medals or Stanley Cups … it has to do with the family I raise. I just do the best I can each and every day, get up and choose my attitude and get on with it.”

Babcock, who has three children with his wife, Maureen, was in Montreal this week to accept an honorary doctorate of law at McGill University’s fall convocation ceremonies. Babcock attended McGill from 1983-87, was captain of the Redmen hockey team and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education before doing some postgraduate work in sports psychology.

When Babcock arrived at McGill at age 20, he had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“To be honest with you, I had no plan at that point,” he said. “It was just day to day playing hockey. But once I got to McGill, everything changed just because of the standard of the institution, the standard of the student and the expectation of those students that you were surrounded with. Next thing you know, I was a student myself. I think that’s just all part of the culture.”

After he graduated, Babcock thought he would end up being a university professor, not a hockey coach. But he says the lessons he learned at McGill apply to any kind of work.

“As an education student at McGill, I learned early you stand up to be seen, you speak out to be heard and you keep it short to be appreciated,” Babcock said during his address to McGill students on Monday. “So you can all relax.”

His speech lasted just under seven minutes – but it was powerful. Babcock focused on three subjects: the foundation McGill built for him, maximizing potential and choosing your attitude.

Babcock talked about the impact professor John Chomay had on him, calling him a “great man” and adding: “he had time for me … he cared about me.”

Babcock recalled Chomay, who died at age 79 in 2008, giving him his final grade – the highest mark the professor had ever assigned – and telling him he had “potential.” “I can hear him till this day in my mind,” Babcock said in his speech. “‘Mike, potential is like a dirty word unless you do something with it.’ “Life to me is about squeezing every ounce out of yourself, out of your potential,”

Babcock added. “It’s a journey, it takes time, but that’s where the fun is … maximize it. Your potential is a moving target.”

Babcock said his father was the key person in his decision to attend McGill.

“I had told my folks that I decided I was going to stay home and go to (the University of Saskatchewan),” Babcock recalled. “That’s the first time my dad ever got involved in anything and he just said: ‘No, you’re not. You have a chance to go to this great school, the people in Saskatchewan are always going to be here, this is an opportunity of a lifetime and you’re going.’ ” Babcock’s mother grew up in St. Boniface, Man., and he thought McGill would provide a unique opportunity for him.

“She was a French-Canadian gal and I thought I’d go there and learn to speak French,” he said. “I had no idea how English McGill was and how that wasn’t really part of the program.”

Did he learn any French? “Very little … not enough to coach the Habs,” he said.

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien had been reluctant to talk – in French or English – about Subban’s Olympic chances earlier in the season, but changed his tune after practice Thursday in Washington.

“The way he’s playing right now, Subban is making a great case for the Olympic team,” Therrien told reporters. “We want him to go there.”

Subban isn’t the only star player on the bubble for the Olympics and Canada is the only country that could ice two competitive teams in Sochi. Babcock has stressed the importance of a coach having trust in his players on the Olympic ice and that’s what the Subban decision could come down to: does Babcock trust the defenceman.

Whatever decision is made, Babcock will remain an impressive figure.

Behind the desk in his Detroit office, Babcock keeps words from author/preacher Charles Swindoll that were given to him by legendary Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home.

“The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past … we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

“I am convinced that life is 10 per cent what happens to me and 90 per cent of how I react to it.”

It will be interesting to see how Subban – and Canadiens fans – react to the Olympic decision.

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